Door in the Cage
|pages = 22 |stardate = 8462.2 to 8685.7 |year = 2289 |previous = "No Compromise Part Three: The Conclusion!" |next = "The Alone" |chrono_prev = "No Compromise Part Three: The Conclusion!" |chrono_next = "The Alone"}} "Door in the Cage" was a ''Star Trek'' comic written by Steven H. Wilson. It was released by DC Comics in . Summary Log entries :"Personal log, Captain Spock, stardate 8684.2: While the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)|''Enterprise]] delivers a diplomatic party to the conference facilities on Babel, I am under orders to visit Talos IV, a world unseen by outsiders for over twenty years. A world whose inhabitants possess such formidable mental powers that Federation law forbids any contact with them... under penalty of death.'' :My last visit to this world was in direct violation of that law. I brought Fleet Captain Christopher Pike here to live out his life in comfort. Paralyzed and disfigured by radiation, but with his mind fully intact, Pike could communicate only with a race of true telepaths. With all hope of an active physical life gone, he could only find some solace in the illusory world which the Talosians are capable of crafting. :To my knowledge, he still lives here with Vina, a Human woman whose existence, without the Talosians' aid, would be extremely painful. :Captain Pike once fought to leave this world because he found a life of illusion empty. He returned because he had nothing else for which to live. I trust he still finds this life empty." :"Personal log, supplemental: The idea that the child, Philip, is real is unlikely. Both of his alleged parents are, in their true states, severely disabled. Further, Captain Pike's DNA would have been hopelessly damaged by the same radiation that ended his Starfleet career. Like this house in which I have been made welcome, Philip is logically the product of the same Talosian power of illusion. Whether the Talosians are generating that illusion, or Captain Pike is doing so, I have yet to determine. :Christopher Pike is a strong man. Despite the temptations offered him by the Talosians forty years ago, he rejected a life of captivity and illusion. His injuries cheated him of an active life, a wife and a family. However, it is possible that his loss has depressed him to the degree that he has taken refuge in illusion once and for all. There is no doubt that the man I talked to tonight believes this house and his child are real. :I am left with one question, then. Is the Captain Pike I am seeing deranged? If so, where is the ''real Captain Pike?" :"Captain's log, stardate 8685.7: Mr. Spock has returned to the Enterprise from his mission on Talos IV. His experience there has surprised us all. Leave it to a man like Chris Pike to find purpose in such an unlikely place..." Memorable quotes Background information Links and references Characters * James T. Kirk * "The Magistrate" * Leonard McCoy * "Number One" * Christopher Pike * Philip Pike * Spock * Vina ;See also * Unnamed Klingons * Unnamed Vulcans References 1870; 20th century; Babel; baffle plate; brain; bridge; captain; captain's chair; captain's log; class J; cloak; conference; contact specialist; crew; death penalty; DNA; Earth; ; ; Federation; fleet captain; garden; General Order 7; hallucinogen; ''Heinlein; helm; horse; Human; Klingon; Klingon Empire; law; logic; mind meld; paralysis; personal log; phaser; radiation; robot; rustic; salad; shuttlecraft; slave; solar system; star; stardate; Starfleet; Starfleet Headquarters; starship; Talos IV; Talosian; Talosian starship; telepathy; Type 4 shuttlecraft; vegetable; Vulcan; wagon; wheelchair Sources External links * * Category:1994 releases Category:Star Trek (DC volume 2)